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Diana T Fritz  08/26/2006 04:50:21 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Search Results

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UNCLAS        ABU DHABI 03089

SIPDIS
CXABU:
    ACTION: PAO
    INFO:   POL AMB DCM ECON

DISSEMINATION: PAO
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: PAO:WWROBERTSON
DRAFTED: PAO:SANDERSON
CLEARED: PAO:THAMDI

VZCZCADI335
OO RUEHC RUENAAA RUEKJCS RUEHZM RUEHLO RHRMDAB
RHWSMRC
DE RUEHAD #3089/01 2111138
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 301138Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6370
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1075
RHRMDAB/COMUSNAVCENT
RHWSMRC/MCF01 SACCS USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 003089 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B; 
RRU-NEA 
IIP/G/NEA-SA 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD 
LONDON FOR MCKUNE 
PITRANSGRESS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT:  SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: CRISIS IN LEBANON 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Editorials remained critical of the Secretary's 
approach to the Lebanon conflict and most recent visit to the 
region.  One editorial in "Akhbar Al-Arab" provided the outlines of 
a possible resolution to the conflict.  Meanwhile two writers in 
"Al-Bayan" questioned her motives, with one denying that she had any 
ability to defend the Lebanese people while another hypothesized 
that she did not come to reach peace, but only to encourage the 
Israelis to expedite their observations.  Another writer in 
"Al-Ittihad" attributed the failure of the Rome summit to the United 
States government's refusal to meet with representatives of Hamas, 
Hezbollah, Iran or Syria.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. Under the headline "The return of Condoleezza", the Abu 
Dhabi-based Arabic-language daily "Akhbar Al-Arab" (circulation 
20,000) published the following in a 07/30 unsigned editorial: 
 
"... It is no secret that the proposed 'peacekeeping force' will 
expand its mandate to include interference in Lebanon's internal 
affairs, at the expense of the Lebanese constitution.  Such 
interference will have a decisive impact on the country's governance 
and form of democracy, and will change the country's lists to match 
the United States' black and white vision of who are and are not 
terrorists.  Washington knows that the presence of these 
international forces will tempt those who wish to fight the U.S. to 
come to Lebanon.  To end the war properly, the peacekeepers should 
remain under the control of the United Nations, and should enter 
only after Israel withdraws from Shebaa Farms and exchanges 
prisoners.  If Secretary Rice's proposal is inline with this vision, 
her job will be easy and reasonable, and this visit will prove less 
burdensome on the Lebanese than the last." 
 
¶3. Under the headline "The return of Condi", the Dubai-based 
Arabic-language daily "Al-Bayan" (circulation 85,000) published the 
following in a 07/30 editorial: 
 
"... In her visit to the Middle East last week, Rice mentioned that 
her return would not come until the time was right for a final 
solution to 'the crisis in Lebanon.'  Her departure left Israel with 
the ability to do whatever it wanted, while denying Lebanon its 
right to return to normalcy.  We don't know whether now is the right 
time for peace as she said, or if she has returned out of concern 
for Israel's safety, now that it has experienced the stiff 
resistance which forced it out of three cities in southern Lebanon 
(Maroun Al-Ras, Bint Jubeil and Eitron) and threatens to drag them 
into a quagmire that will serve as a graveyard for its soldiers. 
Even as the United States announces its desire to save Lebanon and 
find a permanent solution, the painful reality in Lebanon reflects 
the opposite and demonstrates that United States' true desire is for 
Israel to quickly achieve all of its strategic goals in this 
conflict..." 
 
¶4. Female Emirati columnist Aisha Ibrahim Sultan wrote the following 
in her daily untitled column dated 07/30 in the Dubai-based 
Arabic-language daily "Al-Bayan": 
 
"... What is a more grave breach of the law: targeting peacekeeping 
forces and intentionally killing four of their members, or abducting 
two soldiers actively involved in legitimate combat?  Why then has 
the United States helped Israel legitimate its right to defend 
itself in such a brutal manner (utilizing the abduction of its 
soldiers as a pretext for war), preventing the United Nations from 
issuing a statement of condemnation?  As long as Israel is free and 
its lawyer the American devil is ready with his veto to protect it 
after every crime, then who can preserve Lebanon's security and 
stability?  How can the United Nations account for the killers of 
Lebanon while it itself is being killed in front of the world's 
eyes?  In such conditions, Rice must find another solution to her 
diplomatic geniality, if she can come up with any!" 
 
¶5. Kuwaiti columnist Dr.Shamlan Yousef Al-Eissa wrote the following 
in his weekly column in the Abu Dhabi-based semi-official 
Arabic-language daily "Al Ittihad" on 07/30: 
 
"... What is next now that the Rome conference has failed and Rice 
is returning to the region?  What caused its failure?  The answer is 
clear: the U.S. came with a special agenda for the region that it 
wants the Arabs to implement, either voluntarily or by force.  What 
is their agenda?  It is to completely reorder a problematic region. 
President Bush has said Lebanon and Syria must disarm Hezbollah, 
according to Resolution 1559.  Bush also wants pressure on the 
Palestinian Authority to suppress the Palestinian resistance, 
especially Hamas and the Jihad movements, and wants to reopen the 
issue of normalizing relations with Israel.  It is very difficult 
for Arabs, including those moderates among them, to accept these 
demands, as they are orders which any Arab leader with even the 
slightest amount of honor cannot accept, as they do not even address 
any of the Arabs' legitimate demands, such as the establishment of a 
Palestinian state in the Arab lands which were taken in 1967.  The 
United States did not take into account the changes their agenda 
would cause in the region, and as a result have increased the 
influence of Iran in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.  Hezbollah is not a 
mere terrorist organization as the Americans pretend, but is instead 
a political party with wide popular support from the impoverished 
Lebanese.  They provide education and health services, and establish 
small plants, workshops and similar businesses.  The U.S. cannot 
achieve peace in the region without negotiations with Hamas, 
Hezbollah, Iran and Syria." 
 
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